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Originally Posted by jphughan
1)Paint issues would show up when you looked at the cars.
2) And brakes and tires are consumables anyway, so I don't see why increased wear would worry you there.
3) these cars were DESIGNED to be on the track
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Amri215
1) Yes I tend to look at my car so not sure what you mean here
2) Please tell me you are joking, the rates at which they are consumed between the street and track; are day and night, so again not sure what you mean here?
3) Maybe but not mine  |
I made those points since you said you avoided buying cars that had been tracked because tracking cars causes those issues. If those are the reasons YOU don't track, I guess that's understandable -- but you're missing out. What's the point of paying to play by buying an M3 if you're not actually going to play? And I'd rather have a car with a few paint issues that has shown me an amazing time than an immaculate car that I never really enjoy to its potential. But since I track AND my paint is just fine thanks to clear bra, I win on both fronts.
If you're really worried about paint, just put a bunch of painter's tape on the high-risk areas of the body for the track event. Lots of people do that, and no it doesn't mess up your paint when you remove it.
As for increased wear, 3-4 track days per year isn't going to make an appreciable difference in how long your brakes and tires last, especially with a novice driver on stock equipment. Once you get better and/or if you run a track that's especially hard on brakes, MAYBE increased brake wear will be noticeable even at that frequency, but by then you'll be going more often anyway and thus might be looking at dedicated track pads. And the tires that wear quickly on the track are the extreme summer tires (AD08, RE-11, Ecsta XS), and especially R compounds (NT01, PS Cup), not the just-short-of-extreme summer tires like PS2, PSS, or ExtremeContact DW.
Do yourself a favor and go attend a local track event as a spectator; it should only cost like $20, which is worth the price of admission just for the car porn and to talk to fellow enthusiasts. But your real goal for that $20 will be to catch a ride with an instructor or advanced run group student (if they're allowed to take passengers at that event) who rocks an E9x M3 -- then try to come back here and say that you don't feel you're missing out. Hell, it doesn't even have to be an E9x. My instructor has an E36 M3 with nothing but upgraded pads, a square tire setup, and modest suspension mods to achieve neutral handling, and he still blows me away with how fast he can go in that thing.